Scourge of Khorvaire

Sometimes heroes do crazy things.

Grazzletongue is defeated

With the tale of the dragon’s defeat to long to tell here… for now, an update on our characters in the past three months since…

Thork has since become the Thane of Firehammer Hold, and Rolen has stayed on at the Hold to aid in the rebuilding of the land in western Aundair of which was terrorized by Grazzletongue. Both have helped seek out refugees scattered from western Audair, and convincing them to return to their homes once they have been shown that trade is returning, and that Firehammer Hold will supply basic tools to help these same people rebuild their communities, which would admittingly be beneficial to Firehammer Hold, arguing that if there are no towns of which the Hold can trade with, the Hold will not last as a trade center for long anyway.

Rolen and Thork have traveled doing this while Jekk has led the rebuilding of Firehammer, all the while dwarven families have trekked from the Mror Holds to not only aid in the making of Firehammer great again, but to live there and create their own crafts of which they may live in legend for such as some of their ancestors have had as known by all.

Legendary deal, or death...

We travel south, our intention to eventually travel the land to Arcanix, in Thrane, the city of magic’s greatest schools. By way of Rekkenmark, however it would take us further east, either by rail or by airship, to eventually get us to Arcanix.

Rolen is almost made by his false papers by the Karnath wardens. A tense situation turned out lucky for Rolen, or perhaps the Karnathians, by them letting us by on the road from our crossing encounter.

During our flight across the sound, four members proudly displaying their affiliation with the Emerald Claw (we believe the militant arm of the Blood of the Vol sects,) boarded our airship and slowly began their encircling of Rolen. Until, of course, Rolen let them know that he could breathe fire, which began the combat. During the encounter, we discover one of the merchants is a Changeling, and that these last guys boarding the boat were a hardy bunch. The pilot, whose sole concentration keeps the ship aloft within the air, was injured from a deflected missile, causing the ship to lurch and pitch, at one point the ship being 30 degrees tilted causing all to almost lose their feet, making movement difficult! Thork abandoned some of the enemy to rush to the pilot’s aid, bandaging him and setting him aright at the airship’s tiller. Rolen quickly aids with some magical healing, fortifying the pilot’s fragile constitution.

When there are two of these enemy left, they find themselves surrounded by three of our party, sans Milo, who is blending in the crowd and stealing items away from both enemy and merchant alike (how Thork remembers it anyway.) Milo happened to score from a Changeling, who’s purse included 32 platinum, and some other sundries the rest of the party may never find out about. The changeling’s purse contents actually now reveal that he may have an association with the Royal Eyes, the Aundair’s Queen’s special investigative agency.

The combat ends and after some quick thinking by Jobu, calming the captain about bringing what he now believes a prisoner, a bounty on board his ship without telling him, we land in Thaliost. We quickly determine the city is on high alert, with many Silver Flame patrols about, many we feel that many are paid security, and not true Flame devotees. Jobu moves out to post a message in the national press (perhaps a message to others?) while Rolen and Thork make their way to the train station.

Near the lightening rail station, there is a large protest going on, many upset with the enhanced presence of the Silver Flame patrols now within the city. Thork and Rolen encounter some protestors first hand, and they are being accosted by some of the Flame’s rent-a-lackey’s, who as the time of this writing had already doubled over one of the citizen’s with his club. Rolen approaches one of the three, he has wild eyes, maybe something to do with a stimulant, and this guy wants to strike Rolen with his mace, which Rolen deftly takes from him and throwing it in the face of the one about to raise the alarm with his whistle. The mace throw is true and it strikes him in the face while smashing the chance at alarm. Thork quickly uses his shield to knock the now maceless guard to the ground, steps over him and takes the advantage of the visible fear coming from the youngest guard. He takes Thork’s advice, to encourage his friends to leave before anyone gets seriously hurt. He leaves his whistle with Thork and drags the others off.

Thork purchases tickets to Fairhaven, and then the town of Passage afterwards, looking at about a day of travel with three hours in layover in Fairhaven. The train pulls out… leaving the city of Thailost behind us, gratefully, since the ruler there would easily find fault in the demeanor of Rolen, the Green Dragon Mask turning his visage even darker, and his behaviors even more questionable.

But the deal was long broken...

We’ve returned to our home plane, but our deal has long past with Grazzletongue, the Green Dragon who we are now told by travelers had rampaged the countryside long ago, just as he said he would by us not returning within his two week demand with the mask.

It has been seven months since we left the Aundair, now returning on the western side of Karnath, leagues and leagues from the beginning of our long journey, now west of here.

The year is 1008, ten years after the last great war. Karrnath using the undead to fight. The land in which we now stand has changed, and many are taking note of the return of the town of Bhorovia, Straud’s curse lifted which returned the ancient village back to it’s rightful place here.

Thrombold, the formarian king, offered the mask if we were to take a device that would rip a portal into Aundair, allowing him to move his forces here. We however took Skathrax’s deal, the undead dragon, who would sabotage the device and give us the mask as a reward.

The party is back to Khorvaire in western Karrnath having defeated the devil Strahd and recovered the Green Dragon Mask. While they were away, the green dragon Grazzletongue has been on a rampage, destroying several villages in western Aundair. He has established a vicious regime and transformed the formerly idyllic countryside into a fog-shrouded lair.

Further disaster has hit Aundair, bards and travelers report that Queen Aurala was killed in her castle by unnamed assailants.

Rolen returns!

As we all gather to perhaps form the last flame for the body of Rolen… his body begins to slowly stir. Rolen arises! As the party stands aghast, Rolen shakes the coma-like symptoms off and tells us the last thing he recalls is being killed at the feet of the Dretch, the dragon that struck what he thought was the last of his life from him.

We catch Rolen up with the last few days since his death like state.

As a party of three, we are struggling trying to determine whether or not we should sneak into the Thrombold’s guarded city, or to try to bribe the cyclops guarding the gates.

We are tending to sneak in, as at least that can get us into the city, and we don’t have to attempt to “talk” to a cyclops, as that didn’t go well the last time. We just don’t think we can sell a bribe or even given that might be successful, how could we possibly pull off walking around the city of slavemasters and look as though we fit it?

A Drow diversion...

Journeying through the Underdark to find Badgermill (who may be able to lead us or tell us where the Fomorian King may be,) we encounter a Drow party attacking the deep gnome party of minors within their own mining area. The scaffolding provides reach to the Drow riding their large spiders, but only if you make the climb to get there. The gnomes are being poisoned into submission, and scooped into magical bags that appear to imprison them for ease of travel.

The fight starts with us trying to defend them…. and we are able to finish the fight with only one Drow female escaping on her large spider mount. There is a good haul from the fight:

1500gp in gems are found on the Drow.
There are four magical Drow shortswords +1 (Milo could use these to better effect)

We help save Badgermill, and others against the Drow raid.

He tells us we can either bluff our way through into the King’s city, or sneak in. There is some kind of portal he believes, but thinks we could bribe the cyclops guarding the gates to the city.

List of worries:
1. Thrumbold, Fomorian King, we must be highly expert in our kissassery of him if/when we encounter him.
2. Skatherack, ancient Wretch Dragon, lives in the castle
3. Magistrate of the court, Satherial, completely insaine. Crazy, vengeful INSANE person, once captured by Thrumbold, who in turn came to serve the Fomorian King. We are to break contact with him at all costs warns Badgermill.

He will also sketch a map to the city gates, where we may attempt to bribe the cyclops… or to sneak past them.

Thork doesn’t like the sneak plan, and as he taps the breastplate of his armor he says “it never seems to work out for me.” He laughs a dwarven laugh.

Our grotto in BlingdenStone, current base of operations...

Thrombold, Fomorian King, resides in Mag Taria, whom we believe has the dragon mask, whom the Green Dragon in the Eberron (Grazzletongue, the Green Dragon) told us we had to get or he would take his rage out on the countryside of Eberron.

We have a place to BlingdenStone (Gnome city, slowly rebuilding itself from attacks from the Drow) of which Brittek allows us passage and safe harbor in while we try to figure out our way out of this realm. This city is set up like a rabbit underground structure, with tunnels all about, confusing to get around but we are welcome by many of the city. Their economy is strong at this time, with almost anything found in the equipment list of the PHB.

We rest… though there is no time. We recall that for every day we spend here, a week passes in Eberron. Grazzletongue should have already raged against the countryside without our return with the Green Dragon Mask.

We are directed to a gnome called Bodgermill, who is known as a scout who could lead us to the city where the Fomorian King resides. (He’s known to be eccentric, but hey, he’s a gnome after all.)

It could be worse... and probably will be.

Thirsten was taken by the surviving Fomorian. We search for a few hours, reaching dead-ends that are either just cavern walls or water. We do eventually reach a dead-end that has a strange vapor that obscures the ceiling. We haven’t had any leads so we linger trying to figure why this area is different than the other tunnels we’ve explored looking for the elfnapped Thirsten.

We abandon the vapor ended passage and continue on after not discovering anything there. At our energy’s end, we happen into a Snerfneblin sitting by his lonesome, but armored and armed for a solo quest it seems. He tells us that he is Brittek, and he is looking for 12 of his own that were taken by the Fomorians, and he goes on to say that he knows if anyone was taken such as our friend and his brothers, they would be taken to The Pit. He describes it as a place guarded by a Cyclops captain of the Fomorians, and that this is the place where the Fomorians trade their livestock with the Drow, whom come and go as they please wherever it is in the Underdark. They take their slaves and go.

We risk resting for eight hours, which Brittek is able to help conceal us with his fetish that casts Shadowstone, a magic that allows us to be concealed in the alcove we were in. Our eight hours of rest goes by, risking Thirsten and the others taken lives by waiting even longer for looking for them.

But we have no choice. We awake, and Thork miraculously saves against the curse’s second day and he is able to shrug it off. The party now fully rested is lead to the cavern where The Pit is known to be. Brittek tells us there is a cage that is lowered in and out of the pit, which is in danger by a contraption that is able to dump water into the pit, the intention to drown the slaves while in the cage lowered in the pit, high above from a retaining cistern, extremely large enough to hold so much water.

We arrive to an area we consider our staging for the battle. We have a plan that when Milo causes a distraction to the cyclops captain, we rush in with several spells casts on Thork, the chosen tank, who will attempt to take the brunt of the cyclops rage.

Milo advances into the cave… and is caught unawares by a well hidden Spriggan (a deep gnome race warped by rage and anger) who attacks him in surprise and misses, all this in silence.

With the seconds ticking away… Jobu preemptivly fires a crossbow bolt from his magical crossbow, striking the cyclops in the leg. Thork laughs out loud, throwing some dwarven curse words in for good measure.

Randle, not to be outdone, launches the first Fireball at the cyclops, striking for a large amount of flame, but the flames die almost instantly by some kind of coating the cyclops has on his skin.

The battle continues…

Thork rushes in, shoves the cyclops to the earth and lands three quick attacks. There is a noise, a sicking noise, and we look up to what history tells us is a Wretch Dragon, a red dragon that has been bent by the underdark to a creature more vile than any Red is known for.

Its not looking good….

… and ends with Rolen passing unto the Underdark, forever.

With three death saving throws automatically made with the damage the dragon’s wounds were making as it was struck by friends, Rolan was unable to raise again to his feet and has fallen forever.

The sprigan gnomes are dispatched finally, with only the Wretch Dragon remaining. It appears with the death of the sprigans (whom seemed to have the dragon chained and controlled when we first encountered him within the cavern,) the Wretch Dragon does not show itself again.

For a moment, there seems to be a moment to rest as there are no more threats to be had here in the cave with The Pit. Thirsten leaves the cage and retrieves his belongings from a secret compartment he saw the cyclops use underneath the table within the cavern.

We take the bodies of the sprigans and the cyclops and put them in the cage, our plan to lower it with all of the fallen enemies into the pit, and release the water to submerge them all within the cage.

Once again into the breach my friends!

With sunset missed, there was no chance to activate the portal while darkness was upon the Feywild.

We have set up camp away from the portal, and are contemplating awaiting the next sunset.

It is now later in the evening and watch begins in our camp…

We interlude into the backgrounds of our heroes…

We make our way back to the portal, right before sunset. We find our violent encounter only hours before has had us ready to avoid the leylines of lightening, and those who have (a somewhat) mastery over the Arcane, inspect the portal with the intent to open it.

Randle is able to open the portal, and a sphere of green opens before us. We pass through the portal into…. the unknown…

There is a floor of silt beneath our feet, rocks and pebbles, but that is our only sensation, as we are surrounded by darkness, and we find ourselves lonely in a large cavern…. for now.

We journey for some time through a tunnel that leads us only one way, the way we are going. We come to a fork, of which we take the lower road of the two. It leads us to a drop in a dead end, leading about 100 feat down into a forrest of large mushrooms. We make it to the ground, leaving our knotted rope behind. Randle’s familiar, a fiendish bat, named Ernie (the historical record is fuzzy on this) who ranges ahead the direction we choose. Ernie the bat discovers bodies of the dead strewn about. Thirsten ranges ahead.

We find the bodies of Svirfneblin, dark deep Gnomes who have been killed by brutal means; heads and chests bashed in. One, yellow in color, exudes a poisonous fungal cloud that poisons our dragonborne, who takes some damage, but his immunity to disease proves true, saving him from some unknown fate the rest of us avoid.

The ranging familiar far ahead detects six floating spheres of yellow, tendrils of some unknown quality float upward from their round shapes. They are between us and some kind of pool of water, which happens to be the only way we can travel.

We approach to find the water with some surface scum, vegetation bridges bounding across its surface, enclosing a mushroom that Thork believes may spew its contents in a “propagation of the species” sort of way. Given the yellow cloud that hurt Rolen only moments ago, this gives us great pause.

Thirsten, to our flank, attempts to go around a mound to our left of travel, and disappears from our sight.

Thork casts the first stone… into the water, yet nothing happens. EXCEPT the center mushroom emits a high pitch tone, yet nothing else.

Thirsten gets closer to inspect the spheres, and men seemingly made of mushrooms step from the larger plants. Myconids engage us in combat….there is a mound attacking us now… which Thork leaps past in the attempt to aid the poison incapacitated Thirsten who is dodging more bad rolls from the DM than actual good attacks.

Randle from a levitated position begins his reign of fire and scorching rays against the enemy. Thirsten is rescued by Thork, his hammer swinging true against the two foes that were upon him. Thork and Thirsten turn to aid Rolen in fighting the Shambling Mound (which has just swallowed Rolen whole.) Rolen breaks free with his strength of arms, and now that Thork is with him the hammer and steel starts to swing heavy.

Meanwhile Randle and JoBu have been fighting another sole Myconid on the outskirts of the shroom circle, it poisoning JoBu but JoBu has had that type of wiskey before and it doesn’t affect him.

Several rounds later we fell all the mushroom beasts and the mound, and searching yields nothing but some spell and potion components.

Four gas spore pods are harvested from the Myconid spore host that was in the center of the infested pool.

We rest for an hour, encountering some wandering large beetles, that simply pass us by while resting, and after resting we continue onto what appears to be an underground lake of a size we can’t determine. We follow the only pathway, just a bit of shore between the water and the rock to the right, until it dead ends into wall.

We encounter a Kuo-toa who is hidden on the other side of a rock, just 50 feet into the water. He is discovered because Rolen shoots an arrow to hit this wide rock, of which he sticks his head up and rattles his fist at us, probably cursing in his native tongue. Rolen knows of these creatures having lived on a shoreline growing up, and believing them all insane he tells the party of this.

Randle, deciding this Kuo-Toa can’t be trusted, Fire Bolts him right between the eyes with a critical hit. We hear the splash of the creature into the water, but we never see it again.

Feeling a little stuck of not knowing where to go, Rolen goes hip deep into the water and journeys over 100 feet out of sight into the water. He even sits upon the rock the creature was first sitting on and sings for a few minutes, his voice carrying and echoing far afield.

We turn around and head back, our goal being the attempt to climb our rope again but we find that we can’t do so, as the myconid forrest has now arranged itself to keep us from passing easily, or even with skill, to where we want to go. We decide to go back to the lake, but try to figure how we may sail the sea black once we arrive back.

A canoe made of a mushroom tree stalk?

We decide the water is to much of an ambush to risk it, and we force our way through the mushroom forrest and return to our rope where we originally descended, and climb up.

We eventually wind up looking across of a 30 chasm with two Formorians who seem to be standing watch over a rickety bridge and a what appears to be a cage holding creatures of some sort. After some discussion, we drink our Alter Self potions, changing our appearance to Formosans (for an undetermined time) and we attempt to cross the bridge.

The Formorian guard halts us, tells us we can’t cross. After some discussion between JoBu, the only person who can speak Giant, they allow us to cross with the giving up of some of JoBu’s whiskey. Some of us cross, the deal being only two of us, but we push our luck and more than Thirsten and Thork cross.

Eventually the discussion breaks down. Thork’s play on being mad about the whiskey being all drunk up and destroying the platform does nothing to the giant creatures before us as in attitude, they pretty much laugh at us instead. With both Fomorians distracted, Thirsten starts the combat with a sneak attack. The initiative rounds begin…

JoBu attempts to hold up the illusion by yelling out in their language that Thork (as a Fomorian illusion still) has gone crazy. Thork rips the cage door from it’s hinges and slams the ground with it. The Fomorian leader takes a swing and hits Thirsten for a good amount of giant like damage. Of course, Randle and JoBu are still on the other side of the sprawling chasm.

Thirsten attempts to draw one onto the bridge. The Fomorian leader remarks how that is the shittiest bridge trap to have ever existed, and that the other Fomorian is the biggest idiot to have ever tread the underdark.

A round later they’ve realized we weren’t who we pretended to be. The battle rages all out, and Thork gets the glaring hate which does not an insignificant amount of damage. Thirsten makes it out to the middle of the bridge to only be grappled from edge of the chasm. The Fomorian grapples Thirsten and leaps into the chasm! They fall 60 feet and Thirsten and the giant take fall damage, the damage being more serious for Thirsten.

Thork is turned from a Curse of the Evil Eye that starts to turn him into a Fomorian slave… and can not attack without disadvantage and half move.

The non-leader Fomorian falls to the spells of Randle, and Thork and Rolen are safe for the moment. Thork is told by Randle that if he takes a long rest, he may again have a chance to shake the curse that holds his soul.

Thirsten is taken…. the Fomorian leader has seemed to have left with the Elf (Thirsten,) and we are trying to find him. Randle’s familiar fiendish bat is following him, his speed that of a giant’s pace, and the bat will return when and where he may stop.

And so ends the evening of gaming… us wondering if Thirsten has made his death saves in the first place… and if we can catch the giant in time if he stabilizes in the first place. Thork will have to ride as he is at half speed and slowly changing shape…

A map showing two paths...

We find a leather sheath, which can be unrolled and would cover the doorway, a doorway which is an open cave entrance that the hag used.

We unroll the leather cover, and its covered in runes, almost looking like a map, and Jo-Bu believes there is a pattern here that is used to obscure a map behind it. We believe this map leads to an exit point from the Feywild. Instructions are included on how to create trails, leylines (this is a puzzle test, in which Roland was able to ascertain its meaning.)

Now that we have the way, we continue. There are two paths ascertained, a dangerous path, and a more dangerous path.

We travel through some rough terrain, and encounter the familiar, ugly face of a gnome with tusks. HE’s a wearboar! Whom shape shifts into a boar in front of our eyes. He has friends, goblins, mounted on boars around him and threatens us with giving him money, and maybe he’ll let us go.

Thus combat begins. The boars charge, and we react by killing the early chargers.

Roland goes to three hit points, and the first round of combat isn’t even over.

Gannick, the wear boar had on him upon his death;
Pouch with 14 gold
Potion of Heroism

We continue on our way after a short rest. By the evening, we make it to the portal in which the map references, which we believe will lead us from the Khyber. There are several rock cylinders of stone, open on one side, each facing a different direction (to an extent.) Randle’s hawk familiar scouts from above as we begin to figure out the logic of what makes the portal work, to hopefully bring us back to Eberron.

But then the Shambling Mound happens. It’s giant, and is able to swallow heroes whole, making them restrained, blind, and they are unable to breathe.

The creature goes down, only after the three displacer beasts are killed, and there a many-a-turns spent trying to make arcana checks to get the portal to work, while dodging a lightening effect that does massive damage. The lightening crosses through the portal from the four corners that make up the area around the hedge portal.

We fail at opening the portal after downing the creatures, and we make camp in the area.

At next we game… we attempt the portal again… and the creatures that will probably exist again to protect. it.